16 December 2008

Recent happenings at the GRC

Time is most definitely zipping by. It has been well over a month since my last post and I more than owe this blog's followers an update.

First off, The GRC promotional brochure is almost complete and almost ready to be printed. We have finalized the text and images and we are now waiting on the penultimate proofs. The literature promises to be an informative and eye-catching promotion of the GRC and we are looking forward to having it for mailings, events, fundraisers and other opportunities.

On a similar note, we have been receiving a great deal of publicity in the last month, including a small article in a Sarasota regional paper, The Pelican Press. The piece featured the newly formed GRC, my position as director, and the plans for the new molecular program at Selby.

I also had the pleasure of being interviewed by our local NPR radio station. A short sound bite was aired on December 4th that introduced listeners to gesneriads, the GRC, and molecular systematics. You can listen to the segment at WGCU-NPR's website:Gesneriad Research Center on WGCU-NPR

Just today (22 December 2008), Selby Gardens issued a press release on the new Drymonia that John L. and I are co-describing in the next issue of Selbyana. The press release can be seen on my website:

Research is moving forward as well. As part of the Gesneriads of the Interface Zone project, we have requested and begun receiving herbarium specimens from around the world representing the Cyrtandra samoensis complex of species. Cyrtandra samoensis is the only species of Pacific cyrtandras that is widely dispersed. As you may recall from my previous posts and articles, most Pacific cyrtandras are geographically restricted to single archipelagos or even single islands. Researching how C. samoensis compares with other closely related species in the complex is needed to understand why this species has been able to disperse broadly while other closely related species have not. In turn, this information may help us to understand more broadly how and under what conditions certain species of cyrtandras become more greatly dispersed. Ultimately, this information will be used to test our hypotheses of how, when and why the genus Cyrtandra has managed to cover a third of the planet's circumference.

One final project that I have mentioned little, if at all, is a potential collaboration and field project in Costa Rica that we have established for Selby Research. I, along with Stig Dalstrom, Selby Gardens Orchid Identification Center Curator (pictured here with a Drymonia macrantha), recently returned from a week-long networking trip to Boracayan, Costa Rica - the wildlife refuge where we discovered Drymonia decora in 2003. The plan is to set up a collaboration with Boracayan and a Costa Rican research affiliate to conduct an all-vascular plant inventory of the refuge. We have already documented over 10 species of gesneriads from Boracayan. Our planned inventory project will most likely uncover more gesneriad species as we explore this botanically rich region of Central America. Look for more updates on this exciting endeavor in the coming year.

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Welcome to the Gesneriad Research Center's Blog!

The GRC is the center in North America for botanical research on the plant family Gesneriaceae. Here on the GRC blog, you will find updates on GRC activities including research, education and conservation efforts. It's easy to subscribe to the GRC blog (see below) to get email notifications of entries and updates so you will always know the latest.

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Mission of the Gesneriad Research Center

To increase and diffuse knowledge of the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae through exploration, research, professional collaborations, and education, and to facilitate conservation initiatives that benefit gesneriads and the tropical ecosystems where they occur.

What is a gesneriad?

Gesneriads (pronounced "guess-NARE-ee-ads") are tropical plants in the plant family Gesneriaceae, a diverse group of species that range in size from small teacup-sized windowsill plants to trees taller than a house. Commonly known gesneriads include African violets (Saintpaulia) and lipstick plants (Aeschynanthus). Gesneriads are often quite striking, exhibiting a wide range of growth forms, flower colors and fruit types. In all, there are over 3000 species of gesneriads found throughout the world's tropical forests. The Gesneriad Research Center was founded in 2007 to coordinate and conduct research and conservation geared towards understanding and preserving this important family of flowering plants.